VEHICLE COLLISION PREVENTION DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a device for preventing a vehicle collision with a vehicle in front

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tokkai Hei 6-44500 and Tokkai Hei 6-27238 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 1994
disclose a device for preventing vehicle collision by calculating a minimum safe distance
according to the vehicle speed, using a laser radar that measures the distance to the vehicle in
front and a speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle. When the distance to the vehicle
in front falls below this minimum distance, the device warns the driver of the vehicle by means of
a sound or vibration. When the driver recognizes the danger, he has to slow down to avoid a
collision. However, this device merely emits an alarm, and it does not directly relate to the braking
operation the driver has to take in response to the alarm.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of this invention to control the braking of a vehicle according to an intervehicle distance, i.e., a distance between the vehicle and a vehicle ahead, so as to obtain the
braking force necessary to prevent collision. It is a further object of this invention to optimize the
distribution of braking force to the Wheels of a vehicle when the brake is operated. In order to
achieve the above objects, this invention provides a collision prevention device for a vehicle
equipped with a brake system. The device comprises a brake pedal, a mechanism for detecting a
depression angle of the pedal, a mechanism for calculating a first braking force according to the
depression angle, a mechanism for measuring a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle
in front of the vehicle, a mechanism for detecting a velocity of the vehicle relative to the other
vehicle, a mechanism for calculating a second braking force required to avoid a collision of the
vehicle With the other vehicle from the distance and the relative velocity, and a mechanism for
applying the larger value of the rest and second braking forces to the brake. It is preferable that
the device further comprises a mechanism for emitting an alarm when the first braking force is
less than the second braking force. This invention also provides a collision prevention device for
a vehicle equipped with a plurality of Wheels and a plurality of brakes for respectively braking
the Wheels. The device comprises a brake pedal, a mechanism for detecting a depression angle of
the pedal, a mechanism for calculating a rest braking force according to the depression angle, a
mechanism for measuring a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle in front of the
vehicle, a mechanism for detecting a velocity of the vehicle relative to the other vehicle, a
mechanism for calculating a minimum braking force required to avoid a collision from the
distance and the relative velocity, a mechanism for detecting a dynamic load acting on each of the
Wheels, a mechanism for distributing the larger value of the first and minimum braking forces to
the Wheels based on the dynamic loads, and for controlling a brake force of each of the brakes to
the distributed braking force.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an anti-collision device according to this invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a part of a braking control process according to this invention
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the remaining part of the braking control process.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relation between inter-vehicle distance and brake air pressure
according to this invention.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relation between brake pedal operation and brake air pressure
according to this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, vehicle Wheels are each provided with a brake cylinder 11
that receives hydraulic pressure to apply a braking force. Each of the cylinders 11 is connected to
a booster 10 by hydraulic piping. The booster 10 is connected to an air reservoir 20 via an
electromagnetic valve 8, and supplies an oil pressure directly proportional to the air pressure
input via the valve 8. This pressure will hereinafter be referred to as brake air pressure.
The electromagnetic valves 8 control the brake air pressure supplied to each booster 10 from the
air reservoir 20 according to a control current input from a control unit 7.
Signals from stroke sensors 3, acceleration sensors 5 and an acceleration sensor 6, a brake pedal
depression sensor 2, tire rotation sensors 4, brake air pressure sensors 9, and a laser radar 1 are
input to the control unit 7. The stroke sensors 3 respectively detect a stroke length of each
suspension supporting the front-right, front-left, rear-right and rear-left Wheels. The stroke
sensors 3 also function as sensors that detect a static load acting on each Wheel from this stroke
length. The acceleration sensor 6 detects a forward/backward acceleration of the vehicle. The
acceleration sensors 5 detect the sideways acceleration of front and rear axles supporting the
front and rear wheels.

The brake pedal depression sensor 2 detects a depression angle of a brake pedal with which the
vehicle is equipped. The tire rotation sensors 4 detect a rotation speed of each Wheel. The brake
air pressure sensors 9 detect the brake air pressure between the electromagnetic valves 8 and
boosters 10.
The laser radar 1 measures a distance from the vehicle to a vehicle in front using a laser beam. A
laser radar having such a function is known from the prior art.
The control unit 7 is a microprocessor comprising an input/output circuit, ROM, RAM and CPU.
Brake air pressure maps shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are stored in the ROM. The map of FIG. 4 specifies
a minimum brake air pressure Pb1 required to avoid a collision, according to the inter vehicle
distance and a velocity of the vehicle relative to the vehicle in front calculated therefrom. The map
of FIG. 5 specifies a brake air pressure Pb2 based on the brake pedal depression angle and the
vehicle weight.
According to the aforesaid input signals, the control unit 7 searches the brake air pressures Pbl,
Pb2 from the maps of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, and sets the brake air pressure to Whichever value is the
larger. Further, if the brake air pressure Pb2 obtained from the map of FIG. 5 is less than the brake
air pressure P obtained from the map of FIG. 4, an alarm signal is output to an alarm 18 on the
vehicle. The above control will now be described With reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and
3. In a step S1, a predetermined initialization is performed when power is switched ON by an
ignition key With Which the vehicle is equipped. In a step S2, a brake pedal depression angle Ba
is read from the detection signal output by the brake pedal depression sensor 2, and tire rotation
speeds VW1VW4 are read from the detection signals output by the tire rotation sensors 4. Also
in a step S3, When it is determined that the brake pedal depression angle Ba is Zero and all the
tire rotation speeds VW1VW4 are Zero, static loads WS1WS4 acting on the
Wheels are read from the detection signals output by the stroke sensors 3.
When the brake pedal depression angle Ba in not Zero in the step S3 or When any of the tire
rotation speeds VW1VW4 are not Zero even if the brake pedal depression angle Ba is Zero, the
processing of a step S4 and subsequent steps are performed.
In the step S4, a forward/backward acceleration GX is read from the detection signal output by
the forward/backward acceleration sensor 6, and a sideWay acceleration Gyf of the front axle and
a sideway acceleration Gyr of the rear axle are read from the detection signals output by the
sideway acceleration sensors 5. Dynamic loads W1W4 acting on each Wheel are then calculated
from these values GX, Gyf, Gy, and the static loads acting on each Wheel WS1WS4. In a step S5,
a distance Lv,1 to the vehicle in front is read from the signal output from the laser radar 1, and
the relative velocity Vvh between the vehicle and the vehicle in front is calculated from the change
of the inter-vehicle distance Lv,1 and a time interval of the measurement.
In a step S6, the minimum brake air pressure Pb1 required to avoid a collision is found from the
map of FIG. 4 according to the inter-vehicle distance Lv,1 and relative velocity Vvh.
In a step S7, a brake air pressure Pb2 required by the driver from the map of FIG. 5 is found
according to the brake pedal depression angle Ba and vehicle Weight
Wvh=(WS1+WS2+WS3+WS4).
In a step S8, these brake air pressures Pb1 and Pb2 are compared, and When PbziPbl, a brake air
pressure P1P4 is calculated so that Pb2 is distributed according to the dynamic loads W1W4
acting on each Wheel in a step S9.

On the other hand When Pb2<Pb1, in a step S10, an alarm signal is output to the alarm 18 and a
brake air pressure P1P4 is also calculated so that Pb2 is distributed according to the dynamic
loads W1W4.